ArticleFrontiers in robotics and AI2025
Ethical considerations in the use of social robots for supporting mental health and wellbeing in older adults in long-term care.
Article in Frontiers in robotics and AI, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Artificial intelligence-enabled social robots for facilitating social interactions in patients with dementia: a systematic review.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Hospital-Based Robotic Applications in Nursing Practice: A Scoping Review.Journal of nursing scholarship : an official publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing · 2026Article
- Care ethics and the transformation of care in an age of artificial intelligence.BMC medical ethics · 2026Article
- AI in geriatric psychiatry: precision meets human experience.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Human-AI co-research on design and evaluation of Embodied Conversational Agent in rehabilitation contexts.Frontiers in robotics and AI · 2026Article
- Reframing Person-Centered Fundamental Care in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Posthumanization: A Theory-Informed Narrative Review.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2026Review
- The Impact of Telepresence Robots on Family Caregivers and Residents in Long-Term Care.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Exploring intergenerational interactions with tiny social robots: a qualitative study.Frontiers in dementia · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Social robots are increasingly being utilized to address mental health challenges in older adults, such as depression, anxiety, and loneliness. However, ethical concerns surrounding their use are insufficiently explored in empirical research. This paper examines the ethical challenges and mitigation strategies for implementing social robots in long-term care settings. Drawing from insights gained from research across two Canadian studies involving Paro and Lovot, we highlight the critical role of an equity-focused approach to ensure the ethical use of social robots. We advocate for the respectful inclusion of the voices and desires of marginalized groups, such as older adults with dementia. Key ethical issues discussed include inequitable access, consent, substitution of human care, and concerns about infantilization. Our empirical work offers practical strategies to navigate these challenges, aiming to ensure that social robots promote mental health and wellbeing in an ethically responsible manner for older adults living in long-term care.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.